Simulating ion beam, plasma and sputter coating devices using Opera

The ability to model the interaction of charged particles with electromagnetic fields is critical for obtaining optimum performance from a wide range of devices, be they X-ray tubes or flat-screen displays, ion sources or particle accelerators.
The Opera software suite has included this capability for a number of years, with continual enhancements. In this webinar, Mike Hook will discuss the modelling of space charge limited emission and particle tracking using Opera, including coupled multiphysics, and will introduce the latest enhancement – the simulation of magnetron sputtering.
The webinar will illustrate Opera's charged-particle simulation capability using a number of devices drawn from a range of application areas.
The speaker will take questions at the end of the webinar.

Optical devices are key components in many areas, such as communications, remote sensing and medical applications, and their role will increase in the future. Simulations are already a very efficient way of optimizing a device, even before the prototype stage. However, simulating optical devices needs distinct consideration due to the special material models, such as graphene, or simply due to the size of the device in relation to the wavelengths of interest.

CST STUDIO SUITE® offers a unique platform for handling such challenges. The user may import or build even highly complex structures using a user-friendly, interactive GUI. The photonic/plasmonic behaviour of the device can then be simulated by selecting the most appropriate algorithm (e.g. FIT/FDTD, FEM, BEM/MoM, MLFMM and more). Dispersive, anisotropic and nonlinear materials are supported. High-performance computing (HPC) options, such as MPI or GPU, are available, and the results can be displayed and analysed in the GUI using a comprehensive post-processing library and state-of-the-art visualization engine.

This webinar will demonstrate how CST STUDIO SUITE can be used to analyse a number of essential optical devices, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide components, photonic crystals (PC), plasmonic devices and optical gratings.

The atomic force microscope (AFM) has played an essential role in 2D materials research since it was used to confirm the first isolation of graphene. Today’s AFMs are even more powerful, with higher spatial resolution, faster imaging rates, greater environmental control and enhanced modes for mapping physical properties. They can image crystal lattice structure as well as nanoscale morphology, and sense local electrical, mechanical and functional response in more ways than ever before.

Finally, we discuss how AFM can now be used to accurately determine the thickness of single or multiple layers of a 2D material. This will challenge the misconception that AFM cannot be used to precisely measure the thickness of 2D materials.

In the third of our webinars showcasing presentations from the PMB 60th Anniversary Symposium, Bas Raaymakers examines the use of image guidance during radiation therapy. He will describe the various options available for radiotherapy guidance, including in-room CT-on-rails, MV imaging, fluoroscopy, ultrasound, tracking of implanted beacons and cone-beam CT. In particular, he will discuss the use of MRI for real-time visualization of the tumour and its surroundings during treatment.

This webinar addresses practical computational issues in discrete calculations of the path of charged or multipole particles in electric and magnetic fields.

We begin by showing the theory and an Excel macro implementation of some standard ODE time-based solvers as applied to the charged-particle case. We also discuss potential benefits of a nonstandard distance-based solver configuration.

Next some examples are provided to illustrate trade-offs between the number of calculations and the accuracy of the result according to various criteria. For example, depending on one’s needs, the simulation set-up might produce output that is either a dense set of (x, y, z) points that plot as a smooth curve, or a much sparser set of points that are individually more accurate than the dense set.

The webinar will end by examining what can be done with the data obtained. Calculations based on a linear interpolation between points are straightforward, but may force one to use an inefficient ODE set-up. This can take excessive computation resources, hence a longer time than necessary to produce accurate results. Some alternatives will be demonstrated using various degrees of physical insight to get the most information possible from the given ODE output data.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nobel prize in scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and the 30th anniversary since the first paper in atomic force microscopy (AFM), Nanotechnology™ has been organising a focus collection with guest editors Franz Giessibl, Rodolfo Miranda and Johannes Barthes to collate some of the latest cutting-edge progress developing and exploiting these scanning probe techniques.

In this webinar, we invite one of the guest editors of the collection, members of our editorial board and authors of contributions in the collection itself to join our panel to look at some of the highlights in STM and AFM over the past 30 years and some of the most exciting research developments in the field today.

This webinar aims to highlight the benefits of correlative Raman imaging for the analysis of chemical composition, crystallinity, stress and optoelectronic properties of materials such as semiconductors, 2D materials and electrodes. Used in combination with either atomic force microscopy or scanning electron microscopy, Raman correlative microscopy provides deep insight into the relation between molecular and structural features of materials – even in 3D.
The principles of state-of-the-art confocal Raman imaging will first be introduced, then its power as an ideal tool for investigating the chemical and molecular characteristics of a sample will be demonstrated with examples of 2D materials, semiconductors and battery electrodes. The webinar will describe clearly the advantages and ease- of- use offered by Raman imaging systems integrated with other microscopy technologies.

In part one of this webinar, Freddie Cardel outlines the concept of automatic plan generation with Plan Explorer and demonstrates a completely new level of automation. He explains the approach, where large numbers of high-quality treatment plans are automatically generated for defined clinical goals and combinations of treatment techniques and machines, and shows how these plans can be easily filtered and browsed to find the most suitable candidates to be evaluated.

In part two, Erik Korevaar and Roel Kierkels present the first findings of the clinical evaluation they performed at University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, and describe how the center envisions the use of the tool in clinical practice.

Continuing our series of webinars showcasing presentations from the PMB 60th Anniversary Symposium, Brian Pogue discusses the evolution of diagnostic imaging over the last 60 years. He will present examples of successful medical imaging technologies, explain how the use of contrast agents can improve delineation and function assessment, and present some fundamentally new physical imaging systems.

If you're publishing scientific work, applying for grants, or just want to better convey your research to a wider audience you need to join us for this special webinar with authors Sam Illingworth and Grant Allen on their book Effective Science Communication: A practical guide to surviving as a scientist.

Sam and Grant will talk us through the research behind their book, why they feel there is a need for this, and provide advice on not only how to survive, but to prosper in the process.

Thermal characteristics must be considered in product development, for example, in systems that include temperature control combining conduction in solids and convection in fluids. In this webinar, we will explore heat transfer between solids and fluids. We will show examples that include structural thermal expansion; convection, radiation and conduction; and electromagnetic heating. A live demo will demonstrate modelling heat transfer in COMSOL Multiphysics® and creating a customized user interface, or application, based on the model. The webinar will include a Q&A session.

Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) is the most powerful laser system dedicated to laser-matter interaction and nuclear physics studies. With a recent investment in creating a new cutting-edge research facility ELI-NP is now seeking the very best minds to join their crew in Romania.

Join Nicolae Victor Zamfir, Project Manager at ELI-NP, to discuss the incredible work being done in understanding the fundamental processes involved in light-matter interaction. You'll find out about the new opportunities available as well as:

- what ELI-NP is looking for in your application
- the benefits of working for ELI-NP
- how to apply

During this webinar we will discuss the development of the Caltech High-Speed Multi-Color Camera (CHIMERA), using two Andor iXon Ultra 888 EMCCDs, for ground-based searches for occultations of sub-kilometre-sized KBOs, which it achieves through monitoring thousands of stars simultaneously.

CHIMERA has completed 20 nights of observing in 2015 and 2016, with an additional 50 nights observing to be completed by July 2018, yielding a final data set likely to have more than 100 occultation events.

For several years, professional astronomers have been looking to Andor as a source of extreme performance, exceptionally robust off-the-shelf detector solutions, utilized across many of the key observation sites worldwide. We will provide an overview of the key high-sensitivity, high-temporal-resolution detector technology types, used in diverse applications such as adaptive optics wavefront sensing, solar exploration, high-time-resolution astrophysics, transit exoplanet discovery, gravitational lensing and even customized guide cameras.

During radiation therapy, the patient’s anatomical state is not static. Many different factors contribute to a shifting picture, and it is essential to account for uncertainties in order to ensure the quality of the treatment plan.

In the first half of this webinar, Niek Scheuder, Chief Medical Physicist, will share his experience from implementing an adaptive planning workflow with RayStation at the Provision Center for Proton Therapy.

In the second half, Cameron Ditty, Senior Physicist, will explain the concept of robustness in RayStation, illustrating with practical examples.

Robust optimization handles possible variations that are not sufficiently accounted for by PTV. The resulting plan maintains target coverage while reducing dose to critical structures, even if anatomical changes or positional errors occur.

Steven Meikle, Ph.D. Professor of Medical Imaging Physics The University of Sydney, Australia

In the first in a series of webinars showcasing presentations from the PMB 60th Anniversary Symposium, Steven Meikle will examine the progression of medical physics over the last 60 years. He will discuss key developments in radiation therapy, cancer diagnosis and surgery, and describe some of the underlying technologies that enabled this medical physics revolution.

Medical doctor Dheerandra Prasad talks about clinical prospects and his clinical experience of the Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™ for precise, frameless and frame-based stereotactic radiosurgery of the brain.

Leksell Gamma Knife Icon combines the unprecedented accuracy of Gamma Knife with integrated immobilization, workflow and imaging technologies to provide even greater clinical flexibility for brain radiosurgery. This is due to a number of advancements, including on-board cone beam computer tomography, a thermoplastic mask system and an infrared-based high-definition motion-management system for patient tracking during treatment, which provide the opportunity to perform frameless and fractionated radiosurgery, as well as frame-based and single-session treatments, and to perform online adaptive planning.

Based on his experience as a radiation oncologist and a neurosurgeon, Dr Prasad discusses how these novel features of Gamma Knife Icon have opened up the possibility of extending Gamma Knife treatment to more patients and new indications. He will explain how the on-board CBCT imaging capabilities of Gamma Knife Icon have improved imaging workflows for both frame-based and frameless treatments at his clinic, and how the thermoplastic mask system has enabled him to treat targets outside the range of frame fixation. He also will describe how the ability to fractionate treatments has allowed him to expand his case mix, for example to patients with tumours that are situated close to critical structures, allowing such patients to benefit from the superior dosimetry of Gamma Knife.

Drawing from individual case studies and his personal experience, Dr Prasad will illustrate how Leksell Gamma Knife Icon is a valuable and flexible tool for brain radiosurgery and its role alongside linac-based stereotactic radiotherapy in today’s radiation oncology centres.

The Ray Optics Module simulates electromagnetic wave propagation when reflection and refraction are the most important effects. This is the case when the wavelength is short compared with device size. Industrial applications include common optical components such as reflectors, monochromators, lenses and polarizers.
This webinar will introduce the tools in COMSOL Multiphysics® for analysis of geometrical optics, including ray intensity and polarization calculations; ray propagation in graded media; and multiphysics coupling to other physics such as heat transfer.
The webinar will include a live demo and conclude with a Q&A session.

For product designers, research scientists and engineers, a computational model that predicts the behaviour of a design is only the first step in the modelling process. Once a model has been solved the next step is to optimize the design. This might involve minimising the amount of material needed to safely support a structure, or maximising the throughput of a chemical in a chemical reactor. This optimization process can be automated using the Optimization Module in COMSOL Multiphysics®. You can pick one or more objective functions to be minimised, identify which modelling inputs can be varied to achieve the optimal design, and specify a set of constraints that a model must satisfy. In this webinar we will show you how to use the geometry optimization capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.2 to find the best designs quickly and easily. The presentation will feature a live modelling demo and finish with a Q&A session.

Join us for a free webinar with author Karl Whittle as he talks us through his latest book Nuclear Materials Science.

Thurs 12 May 2016
3.00 p.m. BST / 10.00 a.m. EST

Covering all aspects of his latest book Nuclear Materials Science, Karl Whittle expands on the research included and gives details on the videos, problems and teaching aids that make this a must read for all students in materials, engineering and physics.

For years, physicists were unable to take advantage of the advancements in computer algebra. Most systems were simply not able to handle the specialized rules and operators, non-commutative variables, and complex notation used regularly in physics calculations, with the result that physicists continued to find it easier to work their problems with pencil and paper. Fortunately, the situation has changed, with new advancements being made all the time that make the complex calculations of physics easier and more reliable.

In this webinar, learn more about recent advancements in computational physics, and see how these techniques can be applied to problems from general relativity, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and classical field theory. A recent project involving the digitization of the solutions to Einstein’s field equations shown in the book “Exact Solutions to Einstein’s Field Equations,” will also be presented.